Briefing 6/26: New Black Lives Matter Mural Outside Borough Hall & More

Zainab Iqbal -
Mayor Bill de Blasio visits the site of the Brooklyn Black Lives Matter mural. Joralemon Street, Brooklyn. Friday, June 26, 2020. Credit: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office.

It’s finally Friday! The school is over for public school students across NYC! We hope you have a wonderful and relaxing weekend. Don’t forget to wear a face-covering when you are outside.

  • There were 385 new positive coronavirus cases in NYC, compared to the 338 cases from yesterday. There were also 38 new coronavirus-related deaths, compared to the 30 deaths from yesterday.
  • Graduations have been moved online! Like Brooklyn Technical High School, for example. NY1 did a good story on them here.
  • “Brooklyn-based company repurposes shipping containers for pop-up COVID-19 testing labs,” 6sqft reported.
  • “Gov. Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio favored protest over prayer when imposing coronavirus restrictions, a New York judge ruled Friday, blocking the pols from treating houses of worship differently than businesses,” the Daily News reported.
  • A Black Lives Matter mural is being painted outside Brooklyn Borough Hall.
  • New York’s contact tracers are still facing challenges, Gothamist reported.
  • The NYC Council just legalized e-bikes and e-scooters, giving New Yorkers more ways to get around safely and sustainably. “This will #DeliverJustice to delivery cyclists who kept our city running during the pandemic, ensuring they are not unfairly targeted by the NYPD,” NYC Council Speaker Corey Johnson Tweeted.
  • “The Brooklyn Music School in Fort Greene hit a roadblock Tuesday in its plans to more than double in size when New York City’s Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) questioned the design of the proposed expansion and declined to grant its approval,” the Architect’s Newspaper reported.
  • Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) along with New York Public Library and Queens Public Library announced yesterday plans to start reopening some of its branches starting Monday, July 13 for limited service, we reported.
  • Fairway store in Red Hook, along with Douglaston in Queens and Plainview and Westbury on Long Island, are expected to close by July 17, we reported.
  • “City officials are looking to capitalize on a distressed tourism industry by converting commercial hotels into affordable housing — including creating single room occupancy units known as SROs,” THE CITY reported.